The title occurred to me years ago and for a long time I could do nothing with it. Its not the title of a poem, its a poem itself. The title sounds like something mis-remembered, a verbal mistake. It's a mix / mash of things as I am a combination of multiple families, identities, routes. …
Page Vs. Stage / Us vs. Them (or Don’t Cross Streams)
Egon: Don’t cross the streams. Peter: Why? Egon: It would be bad. Peter: I’m fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean “bad”? Egon: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light. *** During workshop week, I sat …
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New Poems Up at Eleven-Eleven Journal
The continuously awesome journal Eleven Eleven has published three familiar poems which are up and available for your critique. Its a consistently gorgeous journal and website I've admired for long time. Its an honor to get in with so many other strong artists. I went to an open mic last week, and an old friend …
How Do You Write Poems?
SPOILER: I don't. They write me. I woke up in time to catch CBS Sunday Morning and the moment it was over, I clicked off the television, already annoyed by the Sunday morning crew newscast, and started getting myself dressed and my stuff together. Four notebooks, some print outs of articles and Other People's Poetry …
Grace Jones Live
I chose sleep over the blood moon last night and woke up to good news for a change. A poem I'd been tinkering with over the past few weeks surprised me by being accepted in a journal. I included a draft of it in a submission package a while back and its acceptance this morning …
Saul Williams
In the mid 90's Saul Williams helped change the landscape of delivering and reciting poetry. In his own defense he'd prolly cite folks I'm overlooking as equally influencial as himself, but I make the statement because I saw the change take place first hand. The first live performance of his I saw was around the …
Elements
Dear ____ I was about to email this to you, but stopped myself, not certain if you really wanted it. But I did. After leaving your place the other night, (thank you for the cake) I realized I wanted and needed to write more. My heart needed it. So I began looking for elements. For …
A Brief Conversation On Slam
Read this brief on point essay from 2008 about poetry slam. I’m at work, bored and found myself conversing with the article in my head. “The oral traditions of poetry are in trouble, and performers like this are to blame, performers who believe that as long as words are being performed, they don't have to …
O.P.P.
OTHER PEOPLE'S POETRY, YO!: Take a poem you like. Delete every other line. Write an original line to replace what you've erased. Now erase all that remains of the original poem. Re-write what's left. That's a dope prompt. I tried it yesterday and kinda liked what came out. I almost printed it here, but I …
The Last Haul
my grandfather was my first employer. he worked as a landscaper and yard man for home owners along the Oakland Hills Piedmont, Berkeley. I was with him every summer between late grade school and Jr high. his drove a muscular Ford truck carpeted with spilled malts and holes candy wrappers, Styrofoam bowls for Big Macs. …
The Dirty Rat 